Medical Case Management

Dante needs glasses, but nobody knows that.
Shania has a food allergy that affects her school performance, but has not been diagnosed.

Both children are in the foster care system and, unfortunately, have fallen behind in their medical check-ups. When Dante moved in with his foster family, he changed schools, and missed a routine eye at both schools. When Shania was placed in a new home, she didn’t want to complain, and let her caretakers believe she was just a picky eater.

Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services received a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health for a pilot program, Medical Case Management. The grant allowed PCHAS to hire two Medical Case Managers who ensure that children in foster care receive required physicals and immunizations, as well as dental, vision and hearing screenings. The pilot program will serve 130 children per year in St. Louis City and St. Louis County through 2017 and 2018.

PCHAS is coordinating this effort with Every Child’s Hope, Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, and Great Circle (all members of Missouri Alliance for Children and Families). The four agencies conducted a survey of children in their care. It showed that, for 36% of the children, the status of immunizations was unknown, not documented, or not up-to-date. For 59% of the children, their files were missing documentation of a dental exam in the previous year.

Now the Medical Case Managers will work in tandem with case managers and caregivers to provide timely access to medical care as well as documentation of the exams and their results in state and local databases.

“Our caregivers and Foster Care Case Managers have a lot of responsibilities with meeting all the needs of the children in our care,” explains Dawn Couser, Director of Services for PCHAS. “Navigating the medical health system can be very time-consuming, so we are excited to have Medical Case Managers to provide a stronger safety net for Dante, Shania and other children in their situation.”